Friday, December 24, 2010

In 1984 Disneyland debuted a holiday overlay variation to the Country Bear Jamboree called, Country Bear Christmas. Walt Disney World followed shortly after. A concept poster was proposed for the American parks that used the original Country Bear Jamboree attraction poster with holiday details added ------ snow deposits on various parts of the poster, a wreath above the "Five Bear Rugs" portrait and some graphic changes to the lettering. This poster never went into production. However a smaller playbill size poster was created for the entrances of the Bear Band show featuring the Christmas show and another showcasing the Vacation Hoedown show. These are similar to attractions posters, but are not.

Sadly at Disneyland, the original Country Bear Jamboree could no-longer be shown due to the fact that when the two new holiday/vacation shows were done with a new tape-playback and the 1972 show tapes could not be used on the new equipment.

TOKYO DISNEYLAND was excited to add the additional Country Bear Shows, and changed the attraction's name from COUNTRY BEAR JAMBOREE to COUNTRY BEAR THEATER. This name changed introduced 3 new attraction posters to celebrate all three shows. The original 1983 Country Bear Jamboree attraction poster was the same artwork from Walt Disney World and Disneyland all done in an offset litho process. The NEW Country Bear Theater posters for Tokyo Disneyland were all silk screened!!

The new posters included a detailed redo of the regular Bear band poster and two new seasonal show posters

COUNTRY BEAR THEATER, Tokyo Disneyland, 1991

COUNTRY BEAR THEATER , Jingle Bear Jamboree, 1990

COUNTRY BEAR THEATER, Vacation Jamboree, 1991

The JINGLE BELL JAMBOREE attraction poster is the ONLY Disney park Holiday poster ever done with the recent "BELIEVE IN HOLIDAY MAGIC" poster at Disneyland. No posters have ever been produced for "It's A Small World" or the "Haunted Mansion" holiday shows. Even a concept poster was developed for a Enchanted Tiki Room holiday show -an attraction that never materialized.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Like anything, most design projects start with some serious thought and study. Here are some very rare views of some early attraction posters. Some turned out very similar to what you see, while others never went into production at all. And keep your eyes peeled for an amazing new attraction poster book due out in the spring of 2011!!

PEOPLEMOVER THRU THE SUPER SPEED TUNNEL

Disneyland c.1976 Jim Michaelson

BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN RAILROAD

Disneyland c. 1978 Jim Michaelson

HAUNTED MANSION

Disneyland, Walt Disney World c. 1981

Jim Michaelson

This elaborate redo for the Haunted Mansion was done in the famous "Window Frame" style popularized by WED graphic artist Jim Michaelson. He was the "father" of the second generation attraction poster. The Haunted mansion's "sister" attraction..........PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN had a revised poster created in 1982. WED was able to justify the cost of the new Pirates poster as Walt Disney World had no poster for their attraction, and Tokyo Disneyland would also be able to use the same artwork. The production of the revised Haunted Mansion was "dead-in-the-water" as the production costs for the elaborate re-do was predicted to be too expensive and time consuming. Also the new Pirates poster was well received at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland, however the director of Disneyland's decorating department said "It looked like a cereal box" and few were every displayed at Disneyland and the original 1967 poster for pirates stayed on display for years.

WEDWAY PEOPLEMOVER

Disneyland c.1966

﻿STAGECOACH MINETRAIN AND MULE RIDE

Disneyland c. 1955/56 Bjorn Aronson

TOM SAWYER ISLAND

Disneyland c. 1956 Sam McKim

JUNGLE RIVER

Disneyland, c. 1955/56 Sam McKim﻿

WORLD BAZAAR

Tokyo Disneyland, c. 1982 Herbert Ryman

This is the first study for the all-new "land" World Bazaar. Tokyo's equivalent to Main Street USA. The final poster changed drastically, but Rudy Lord --a close friend of Herbert Ryman made sure the text remained the same.

Check back for MORE attraction poster concepts and stories on these great works of art

Saturday, July 3, 2010

For this Fourth Of July weekend here is a cavalcade of patriotic themed attraction posters from the 1960's through today!

our first real patriotic poster CIRCARAMA-"America The Beautiful"

this version lets guests know that the admission is FREE! a rarer version of this poster printed for use at the attraction's entrance announced "AIR CONDITIONED!"

a thumbnail sketch on a alternate-unproduced version of the poster above

A concept for the New Tomorrowland 1967 version of the poster --at this time the attraction was still being referred to as "'CIRCARAMA" and not yer "CIRCLE VISION"

another very tiny thumbnail sketch for a 1967 redo of the poster--starting to look closer to the final version!

here is a image of the final 1967 "America The Beautiful" poster --shown here c. 1987 on the patio of the Disney Gallery when you could buy REAL attraction posters

This poster was re-done for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in 1975/76 for the Bicentennial version of the attraction done in the smaler poster size of the period.

And now some of the many, many versions of "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln"

this is referred to as the "Dollar Bill" poster

at one point this show was being performed at the New York World's Fair and Disneyland simultaneously!

A "generic" version of the 1974 poster--missing it's remaining graphics and "Gulf" sponsor call outs.

The 1984 Version of the attraction is revamped with the new "Journey To Gettysburg" show--complete with authentic 1860's 3-d SFX headsets!!!

Better hurry up and try the headphones on one last time!!

An old friend is coming back!!

The current incarnation of this poster as seen today at Disneyland!

Here is the 1983/84 poster for "AMERICAN JOURNEYS" --the first version at Disneyland features "PSA AIRLINES" as it's sponsor, the second version displays "Delta Airlines". The fist WDW version of the poster features "Black and Decker" as it's sponsor.

And in 1997 "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL" comes back to Disneyland for a farewell performance. This was a WDW backup print copy of the 1975/1976 version of this very popular film. At some points of the show, the film had deteriorated so badly that guests were watching a motionless image--a example was the St Louis Arch segment!!

And the famous Disneyland Railroad Bicentennial Special poster!!

ALL ABOARD!!!

The Walt Disney World "HALL OF PRESIDENTS" poster. There are a few versions of this poster, including the first 1971 version, a 1978 version and a 1980's silk screened version based on the original poster --all have a similar layout, however the text fonts change and some other minor alterations. In a later post reg the WDW attraction posters I will show the concept art for a unproduced 1990's Hall of Presidents poster, with Lincoln and Bill Clinton depicted.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Sorry folks! I've been neglecting my blog posts recently, but I've been up to my ears in plastic and foam working on a pretty elaborate model project that has finally been completed and installed! After a fairly long time of neglect, Disneyland has been finally getting it's long-awaiting new attraction posters. See my previous posts for others that have also made their debut in 2010.

In the past few weeks, these new posters have been added. Takes a look:

A NEW MONORAIL POSTER

INDIANA JONES ADVENTURE:

I'm not sure what to think of the Indiana Jones posters-the artwork was actually commissioned by famed movie poster artist Drew Strutzen for a lithograph sold by the Disney Gallery around the time the attraction opened. Disneyland Merchandising did have one of the lithographs placed on display inside the entry tunnels for a short time, but the WDI graphics people always said they WANTED to do an attraction poster for the Indy attraction, but that was not done. I know Tokyo Disney Seas did have an actual attraction poster done for their version of the ride.

I like when attraction posters all have a similar cohesive style. Even though the original posters from 1956 thru 1969 were done by several different artists and over many years, you can tell they are from a family of posters. Even the later additions of the 70's and 80's ...as well as the posters of the 90's at Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland and now even Hong Kong all fit that Disney attraction poster look. They new series, while some fit perfectly, others seem to be disjointed or use artwork that seems more like a merchandise Mug design. Some are done old style without "Disneyland" on the poster, others have "Disneyland" and some have "Disneyland Park". The consistency of this posters are maintained at all the other parks, except Disneyland. But I am very glad we are getting new posters at all to carry on this entrance tradition.

MAGICAL FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR

this is a slight revision of "Believe" --note that Dumbo as replaced Tinkerbell on the poster---Dumbo made his flying debut in the actual show on New Years Eve 2009/2010

NEW PRINTS OF THESE OLD FAVORITES ALSO WENT UP:

THESE ALSO WENT UP THIS YEAR :TECHNICALLY ARE BROADSIDES/SIGNS BUT HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE ATTRACTION POSTER CATEGORY.

This poster pays homage to two of the first Disneyland attraction posters for Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. Look closely and you will see the people in the background at the Opera House entrance are from the 1960's!!

This poster is very similar to a version printed in 1975 for the re-introduction of Mr. Lincoln to the Walt Disney Story. Just before the "Lincoln-Journey To Gettysburg" show, a blank version of this 1975 poster was still on display in the Waly Disney Story/Lincoln holding pen. I calculate that "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln" probably features the most poster variations of any attraction. After that would be "Country Bear Jamboree".....Third probably the Disneyland ALWEG Monorail......ok while I'm at it: fourth would be Enchanted Tiki Room. If you include other parks; It's a Small World has had the second most poster styles and variations. All these will be discussed in future posts.

On a side note: The folks at the Disney Gallery on Main Street say they get about 8-20 requests a Day for reproductions of the new MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE followed by the new TARZAN'S TREE HOUSE.!!

Coming up on future posts: attraction poster concepts and some more Tokyo Disneyland, and more!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

As I mentioned a few posts back, new attraction posters were designed some time ago for Disneyland and after some re-working of the display poster frames, the new attractions posters have slowly been going up. All the new posters are being printing in the original 1956-1972 36" x 54" size. This size poster was only used by Disneyland. After park closing on April 15Th, 2010 three additional new posters were installed to great Disneyland guests on the morning of April 16Th, 2010 (Jason: is that specific enough for the compendium??)

TARZAN'S TREEHOUSE

This poster was designed originally for Hong Kong Disneyland by Greg Maletic. Greg based the poster off of Disneyland's original 1960's poster and the 1980's redo for Tokyo Disneyland --however the color has been turned back to the original Disneyland 1960's colors!!

Hong Kong Disneyland Tarzan's Treehouse 2005

And for the FIRST TIME EVER............................

MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE

This design was created by Danny Handke from Walt Disney Imagineering. I think this poster came out PERFECT!

Also a 3rd generation Disneyland Jungle Cruise poster...........

This poster is also based on a design created for Hong Kong Disneyland

Keep your eyes open as more new Disneyland 2010 posters will be showing up!!

Disneyland entry tunnel before the throngs of guest arrive for the day!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Today, 27 years ago the first Disney theme park outside the United States had it's grand opening in Tokyo Japan. The first studies for Tokyo Disneyland began back in 1974 under the project "ORIENTAL DISNEYLAND". In fact when the park was being developed, the land it would eventually sit upon was still being packed from reclaimed land. The land was designated by the Japanese government for recreational purposes only for citizens of Tokyo and surrounded communities. Tokyo Disneyland went thru many concepts and attraction assortments including Matterhorn Mountain, Storybook Land, The Western River Expedition, America Sings and even If You Had Wings. The Oriental Land Company who licensed Tokyo Disneyland from The Walt Disney Company, wanted a unique park-one that was Japanese, yet it had to be a very American "Disneyland" experience. Tokyo Disneyland at it's opening was mostly a composite of attractions directly lifted from Disneyland and Walt Disney World. One detail the Oriental Land Company developers considered an important visual aspect of a Disney theme park experience was the Disney ATTRACTION POSTER!! They requested that their park have it's very own set of these posters. The WED graphics team went to work to develop a set of 24 TOKYO DISNEYLAND attraction posters for the park's opening this day, 27 years ago.

In actuality, only 23 were completed.......a poster for PRIMEVAL WORLD (seen from the trains of the Western River Railroad) was never produced. Over time I will discuss the many posters done for Tokyo Disneyland, but today, on the "KINGDOM OF FAMILY DREAMS AND MAGIC's" birthday, I'll show the posters for the attractions that were unique to TOKYO DISNEYLAND on APRIL 15, 1983.

TDL#001 WORLD BAZAAR 1983

this attraction poster reflects the Victorian style exposition atmosphere of Tokyo Disneyland's glass covered Main Street. It has always been one of my favorite posters and captures the feeling of the "land". It is influenced by turn-of-the-last-century department store catalog covers and advertisements.

It was deigned by a WED Imagineering hero of mine: RUDY LORD. It was also the first attraction poster done for a entire "land"

TDL#011 THE ETERNAL SEA 1983

This is probably the shortest lived Disney attraction ever--yes, shorter than Rocket Rods. Open from April 15Th, 1983 to September 16, 1984. It was replaced by MAGIC JOURNEYS in 1985. The Eternal Seas was a 200 degree film produced especially as a cultural attraction for Tokyo Disneyland. It explored the importance of the relationship of the Japanese and the sea. The Japanese however deal with the sea in everyday life--it's always around them, and the show was not very popular, and quietly closed it's doors.

TDL#016 MEET THE WORLD 1983

Meet The World was a favorite of the Oriental Land Company--it was originally designed--and built for EPCOT CENTER'S JAPAN PAVILION, however it opened at Tokyo Disneyland first to meet cultural requirements for the new Japanese park. WED always planed to build another MEET THE WORLD for EPCOT CENTER however this was sadly never to be. The attraction was a Carousel Theater show, but unlike America Sings or the Carousel of Progress, the theater seats were in the center and the stages were on the outer-ring. With each rotation of the theater, guests heard the Sherman Brother's catchy song "We Meet The World With Love". The attraction at the time was one of the most technically advanced shows ever created by Disney. It featured two Japanese kids who explore the history of Japan with the help of a magical crane. Meet The World closed it's doors early 2009.

TDL#016 MEET THE WORLD c. 1993 revision

This is a early 1990's re-screening of the MEET THE WORLD poster.......it has a slightly different lettering arrangement and is also missing NATIONAL PANASONIC --the attraction's sponsor. The exact reasons for this edition has been lost to history--------for now.

TDL#014 THE MICKEY MOUSE REVUE 1983

Another favorite of the Oriental Land Company was the famous Mickey Mouse Revue. Built for Walt Disney World's opening in 1971, this attraction was one the Japanese insisted on having for their park --the CEO of the Oriental Land Co. felt the show encompassed the true feeling of Walt Disney. Walt Disney World was more than happy to let it go. It's operating costs exceeded the amount of guests attending the show. Bean counters looked at the number of guests inside the theater seats during each show. Rolly Crump of Imagineering was irritated: He tried to explain, the show does NOT have low attendance because it's unpopular!!!! It was a popular show, however during construction-the pre show space inside the attraction's building was made smaller to accommodate an additional merchandise location next to the Mickey Mouse Revue.......so from opening day, the pre show was never able to accommodate enough people to fill the larger theater inside! So during it's run at Walt Disney World, The Mickey Mouse Revue never had a full house----until it's cast member closing finale. So rather than build a duplicate of the show for Tokyo, Florida was willing to give their's up! A poster revision for WDW was being developed in the late 1970's, but was never completed. This poster was created especially for Tokyo Disneyland, but had elements of the proposed WDW poster redo concept.

TDL#005 THE WESTERN RIVER RAILROAD 1983/1977

When Disney was researching and developing the first presentation for "ORIENTAL DISNEYLAND"....they closely studied the Japanese culture. Some things Disney noted and left out of the first master plans for what became Tokyo Disneyland included: NO popcorn, ice cream, or churro carts--Disney noted that Japanese do not eat while standing--it was considered rude and poor service.--Oriental Land company insisted that since the American Disney parks had outdoor vending, so too must Tokyo Disneyland. Disney also decided that Japanese ride trains all the time in their daily lives, and a train around the park would not be something Tokyo Disneyland guests would enjoy. The very first thing the Oriental Land Company brought attention to in the earliest WED presentations was that there was NO train around the park!! WED quickly fixed that, however, Disney ran into a problem with the Japanese Government--If the "Tokyo Disneyland Railroad" was to make more that one station stop, or it's length was a a certain length or longer, it would have to be operated as mass transportation and be under control of the Japanese government. Both Disney and Oriental Land Co. agreed that the attraction would need to be shortened, thus the creation of THE WESTERN RIVER RAILROAD!

Attraction poster fans will recognize this poster as being screened onto a generic-blank of the famous 1977 "Railroad" poster designed by Jim Michaelson. Oddly "THE" has been covered by the 'W" of Western River. The lettering could have been condensed to prevent that--it is unknown why it was done this way, as The Walt Disney World version manages to fit the "THE" in..... Tokyo Disneyland guests board one of four trains at the Adventureland Depot, travel around the Rivers of America-thru Primeval World and back to Adventureland. This poster has recently been replaced by a Hong Kong Disneyland style poster that is based on the original 1977 type.

TDL#023 PINOCCHIO'S DARING JOURNEY

Although this attraction was proposed for Disneyland in California as early as 1974, it actually opened first at Tokyo Disneyland...and this poster debuted there..hence it is featured in this post. Disneyland's opened in May of 1983. As I mentioned in a response in my last post--many of the posters that were ultimately used at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, owe their existence to Tokyo Disneyland. These attraction posters were very expensive to produce, so it was always difficult to justify new poster or re-dos of old ones without sponsors or large enough budgets. The WED graphics departments were finally able to make many newer posters for the US parks by designing the posters in such a way that they could have multiple park uses.......all paid for by the Oriental Land Company's generous financing! All of Disneyland's New Fantasyland attraction posters were really done for Tokyo Disneyland (but in heart the Imagineers were always thinking of DISNEYLAND USA!!)

About Me

I grew up in San Diego in the 70's around people -like my parents who were working for General Dynamics, Ryan Aeronautical etc.....they all had neat modern houses and had dinner and cocktail parties---shopping Centers and restaurants then were like being in Tomorrowland-----we went to Disneyland, Santa's Village and Knott's Berry Farm and all these places had an impression on me! I was fascinated by drawing and model making---when I was 5 I was making clay copies of a preview model for Walt Disney World of what became Big Thunder Mountain..whenever we went somewhere I would come home and make paper, wood and clay models of a building or something--went to San Diego State and studied Environmental Design. Worked for Disney Company for 13 continuous years. Currently a model maker and designer .